Episode 1 Stats

Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor-related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor 44.

Season

• This is the 12th consecutive season to film in Fiji.
  • It’s the 13th season to film in Fiji (including Survivor: Fiji).
• This is the first time that four consecutive seasons started with three tribes.
  • Seasons 41, 42, 43, & 44 all started with three tribes.
    • Coincidentally, all four seasons have different starting tribe color combinations.
      • 41: Blue, yellow, & green
      • 42: Purple, orange, & blue
      • 43: Red, yellow, & blue
      • 44: Orange, purple, & green
    • The most recent season to only have two pre-merge tribes was Island of the Idols.
• This season holds the record for most LGBTQ+ players on the cast with six: Carolyn, Claire, Frannie, Josh, Matthew, and Yam-Yam.
  • The previous record was held by Survivor 42 with five.
    • This season also holds the record for most LGBTQ+ women with three.

Cast/Tribes

• The average age of the cast is 31.11.
• This is the first season since Winners at War with no players over the age of 50.
• 44 is the first season in the new era to not have a blue starting tribe.
  • This is the first season since Ghost Island not to have a blue tribe (unless the merged tribe this season is blue).
• Kane is the 7th Canadian to be on US Survivor.
  • Island of the Idols – Tom
  • Survivor 41 – Erika & Shan
  • Survivor 42 – Maryanne, Omar, & Drea
    • Kane is the first Canadian player from Saskatchewan.
• Brandon is the 9th person affiliated with the NFL to play Survivor.
  • Gary Hogeboom – Guatemala
  • Jimmy Johnson – Nicaragua (NFL Coach)
  • Steve Wright – Redemption Island
  • Grant Mattos – Redemption Island
  • Brad Culpepper – Blood vs. Water & Game Changers
  • Tyler Fredrickson – Worlds Apart
  • Alan Ball – Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
  • Danny McCray – Survivor 41
• Carolyn’s father is Chuck Wiger, who is a member of the Minnesota Senate.
• Heidi holds the record for the longest last name in Survivor with 16 letters.
  • The previous record holders were Wendy Desmidt-Kohlhoff and Christine Shields Markoski with 15 letters.
• Helen is tied with Michelle Yi from Fiji for the shortest last name with 2 letters.
• Yam Yam is the first player to reside in Puerto Rico at the time of filming.
  • He’s the first player to reside in a US Territory at the time of filming.
• Bruce (46) is the oldest player this season, while Carson (20) is the youngest.
  • Both are on Tika.
• All three tribe names this season are one letter away from a previous tribe name.
  • Ratu: Rotu from Marquesas, also Ravu from Fiji
  • Soka: Soko from Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
  • Tika: Tiva from David vs. Goliath
• This is the second three-starting tribe season with orange, green, & purple tribes after Cagayan.
  • Millennials vs. Gen X, Ghost Island, & David vs. Goliath had orange, green, & purple pre-merge tribes, but all three seasons had an expansion tribe.
• All three of the starting tribes this season have four letters in their names.
  • This previously happened in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Survivor 43.
    • This is the first time it occurred where the starting tribe colors weren’t blue/red/yellow
• Ratu
  • Average age: 31.5
  • Oldest member: Matthew Grinstead-Mayle (43)
  • Youngest member: Kane Fritzler (24)
  • Ratu is based on the Fijian word for “chief.”
  • Ratu is the 20th orange tribe.
  • The most recent tribe to start with the letter “R” was Ravu in Fiji.
    • Coincidentally, both tribes are orange.
  • All of the “R” tribes in Survivor are either four letters long that end with “u” (Rotu, Ravu, Ratu) or end with “a” (Rattana, Rarotonga).
• Soka
  • Average age: 30.33
    • Soka is the only tribe this season who’s average age isn’t 31.5
  • Oldest member: Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt (42)
  • Youngest member: Frannie Marin (23)
  • Soka is based on the Fijian word for “worship.”
  • Soka is the 23rd green tribe.
    • The last season without a green tribe was Island of the Idols.
      • However, there was a proposed expansion tribe that would have been green, but it was never used.
    • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Island of the Idols are the only seasons filmed in Fiji without a green tribe.
  • Soka has three LGBTQ+ players (Claire, Frannie, & Josh)
    • Soka is tied with Lairo and Vati for most LGBTQ+ castaways on one tribe.
    • Soka is tied with Vati for highest percentage of LGBTQ+ players on a single tribe.
      • Both Soka and Vati are green starting tribes.
• Tika
  • Average age: 31.5
  • Oldest member: Bruce Perrault (45)
  • Youngest member: Carson Garrett (20)
  • Tika is based on the Maori word for “righteousness.”
  • Tika is the 17th purple tribe.
  • The three most recent “T” tribes all have four letters in their name (Tika, Taku, Tiva).
  • Tika is the only tribe this season to not have a player named Matt/Matthew, and also the only tribe this season to not have a player with a hyphenated last name.

Episode Firsts

• This was the first time multiple players used their Shot in the Dark in one episode.
• Jaime is the first player to use the Shot in the Dark and be declared safe.
• Jaime and Matthew are the first players to play the Shot in the Dark and not be voted out at tribal council.
• Matthew is the first player to play a Shot in the Dark, get a “not safe” scroll, and NOT be voted out at that tribal council.
  • Every previous player to play their Shot in the Dark was declared “not safe” and was voted out at the tribal council where they used it.
• This is the first time 50% of a tribe didn’t cast a vote.
  • This is also the highest number of players to not cast a vote at tribal council with three.
• Bruce is the first player to be medically evacuated on day 1.
• This episode is the first time that medical was called in four different times during an episode
• Brandon is the first player to use a hidden immunity idol in the first episode of a US season of Survivor.
  • Chrissy used one in episode 1 of Australian Survivor Blood vs. Water
    • Kristina Kell previously held this record with her idol play on Day 5 (episode 2) of Redemption Island.

Reward Challenge: “Crate Wide Open”

• Vati is the only green starting tribe in the “new era” not to win the opening reward challenge.
  • Ua won in Survivor 41, while Soka won in Survivor 44.

Immunity Challenge: “Paradise Lost”

• Soka got first place in both challenges this episode.
  • Green tribes have the highest win percentage for the first immunity challenge with 70%.
    • The only other tribes with higher percentages are tribe colors that only occurred once.
      • Koror in Palau: Brown
      • Timbira in Tocantins: Black
      • Bayon in Cambodia: Pink
        • All three starting tribes that are the only starting tribe of that color have won the first immunity challenge of the season.
• Ratu is the 10th orange tribe to lose the first immunity challenge.
  • Orange tribes have the highest percentage of losing the first immunity challenge with 59%.

Confessionals

• Brandon had the most confessionals this episode with 14.
  • Both players named Matt/Matthew had 11 confessionals this episode.
• Claire, Danny, Josh, and Bruce had the least amount of confessionals with 2.
• Everyone had at least 2 confessionals in this episode.
• There was a total of 107 confessionals in this episode.

Advantage

• Lauren is the second person to receive an advantage that allows you to “bank” your vote for an extra vote.
  • The first player to have this advantage is coincidentally also named Lauren (from Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers)

Medevac

• Bruce was medevaced on Day 1.
  • He holds the record for the least amount of time in the game, with less than 24 hours.
• Bruce is the 8th person to never attend a tribal council. The others are as follows:
  • Jonathan Libby & Wanda Shirk in Palau
  • Gary Stritesky in Fiji
  • Kourtney Moon in One World
  • Dana Lambert in Philippines
  • Pat Cusack in David vs. Goliath
  • Jackson Fox in Survivor 42
    • Jonathan and Wanda are the only ones that weren’t medevaced as they were eliminated during a schoolyard pick at the beginning of the season.
• Both players named Bruce were medevaced.
  • Bruce Kanegai was evacuated in Panama
  • Bruce Perrault was evacuated this season.
    • Both Bruces were the oldest players in their season.
• Bruce is the second player to be medically evacuated pre-merge while on a purple tribe.
  • The first was Russell Swan in Samoa.
    • Both players are African-American and the oldest man in their tribe.
• Bruce is the second person to be evacuated before competing in an immunity challenge.
  • The first was Jackson in Survivor 42.
• Bruce is the fourth player medevaced before the first tribal council.
  • Every man who was medically evacuated before the first tribal council of a season (Pat, Jackson, Bruce) was medically evacuated in Fiji, while Kourtney (the only woman with this distinction) was medically evacuated in Samoa.
    • Coincidentally, the winner of these seasons was on a starting tribe with the player who was medically evacuated.
      • One World: Kourtney was evacuated, and Kim won.
      • David vs. Goliath: Pat was evacuated, and Nick won.
      • Survivor 42: Jackson was evacuated, and Maryanne won.

Tribal Council

• Maddy was voted out 1-0.
  • She’s the third player to be voted out 1-0 (not counting seasons with a Final 2 where the final immunity winner casts the sole vote).
    • Lauren was voted out 1-0 in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
    • Sandra was voted out 1-0 in Winners at War.
      • All three players to be voted out 1-0 are women.
  • Maddy is the first player in Survivor history to be voted out 1-0 after a 2-1 initial vote count.
• Maddy is the third player to be voted out by the only vote that was cast against them in the entire season.
  • Terry was voted out by 1 vote in Panama.
  • Sandra was voted out by 1 vote in Winners at War.
    • Note: Lauren in Island of the Idols and Jesse in Survivor 43 had one previous vote against them when they were eliminated, but they lost firemaking as opposed to being voted out.
      • Lauren in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers was voted out by one vote in the tribal council where she went home, but she had three total votes against her when she was voted out.
• Maddy is the 12th woman with an “M” name to be the first person voted out of her tribe.
  • Morgan- Guatemala
  • Mary- Micronesia
  • Michelle- Gabon
  • Marisa- Samoa
  • Marissa- Blood vs. Water
  • Monica- Cambodia
  • Mari- Millennials vs. Gen X
    • Coincidentally, Michaela was the first player voted out of her expansion tribe, and Michelle was the first player voted out of the merged tribe.
  • Morgan- Ghost Island
  • Molly- Island of the Idols
  • Marya- Survivor 42
  • Morriah- Survivor 43
  • Maddy- Survivor 44
• Maddy is tied for lowest placing player who was eliminated due to a hidden immunity idol being played:
  • Cirie, 17th place in Heroes vs. Villains
  • Lucy, 17th place in Millennials vs. Gen X
  • Malcolm, 17th place in Game Changers
    • Maddy is the only player to have this distinction in a season with 18 players.
• Survivor 43 is the only new era season so far with only one elimination in the premiere.
  • 41: Abraham & Sara
  • 42: Jackson & Zach
  • 43: Morriah
  • 44: Bruce & Maddy
• Brandon used his idol and negated two votes against himself.
  • He’s the first person since Natalie in Winners at War to play an idol that negated a majority of votes at tribal council.
  • He’s the first person since Denise in Winners at War to play an idol pre-merge that negated a majority of votes at tribal council.

Ratings

• The first episode received 4.762 million viewers and 0.66 in the Adults 18-49 demo.

Episode Title

• The episode title “I Can’t Wait to See Jeff ” was said by Yam Yam in his first confessional about his excitement to start the game.

Fun Fact

• The premiere date of Survivor 44 is also Heather Aldret’s (Survivor 41) birthday.

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